Dictionary of islamic architecture

parts of the Great Mosque date to this period. The
most significant alteration carried out in the early
twelfth century was the conversion of the building
into a four-iwan plan mosque. Another
mosquetype introduced at this time was the kiosk
mosque, consisting of a domed space with three
open sides and wall containing a mihrab on the
qibla side. The architecture of this period was also
characterized by memorial tombs which were
usually octagonal structures with domed roofs.
The most impressive example of tomb architecture
is the mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar at Merv, a
massive building measuring 27 m square with a
huge double dome resting on squinches and
muqarnas pendentives.
In Syria and Iraq the surviving monuments are
represented by madrassas and tombs. The
madrassas such as the Mustansiriya in Baghdad or
the Muristan in Damascus were built to a four-iwan
plan, while the tombs were characterized by conical
muqarnas domes.
Seljuks

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The greatest number of surviving Seljuk
monuments are in Anatolia. Characteristic features
of Seljuk architecture in the region are elaborate stone
portal façades carved in deep relief, small courtyards
which are sometimes covered (to cope with the cold
climate), and the introduction of tiles as architectural
decoration.
The first mosques built in Anatolia copied the
layout of Syrian mosques thus the mosques of
Diyarbakir (1091), Dunaysir (1204) and Silvan (1152)
have a design based in that of the Great Mosque in
Damascus. Later on the design changes, so that in
buildings such as the Great Mosque at Harout and
the Kolluk Mosque at Kayseri the courtyard is
reduced to a small area in the centre of a large prayer
hall. Other mosques were built with an iwan on
the qibla side of the courtyard which leads into a
domed prayer hall. Another development of the
period is the introduction of wooden mosques
which may have been common in Central Asia at
the time (no examples survive from there). These
are large halls with flat roofs supported on wooden
columns with muqarnas capitals. The Eshrefoglu
Mosque at Beyshehir has this form but has a
separate brick dome resting on columns in front of
the mihrab and an open bay in the centre recalling
the courtyard of earlier mosques.
Like the mosques, the Seljuk madrassas of Anatolia
were built around small courtyards which were
sometimes roofed with domes or vaults. The central
court was often surrounded with arcades, with an
iwan on the qibla side functioning as the prayer hall.
The mausoleums were like those of Central Asia with
an octagonal plan and conical roofs.